Grandes Civilizaciones Mesopotamia

The ancient near east and mesopotamia form a vast area and one of the cradles of civilization. It is in this vast area where the fundamental transition from lifestyles, based on hunting and gathering to agriculture, took place. It was here where temples and cities were first erected, where the metal was first worked,.

Where the writing appeared and where great kingdoms and empires emerged. The heart of the Middle East is Mesopotamia, land between rivers, as named by the Greek historians. This vast geographic area of almost 80,000 km2, includes modern Iraq and parts of Iran and Syria., where the Tigris and Euphrates which,.

Thanks to irrigating the fertile plains through which they run, made the life in this region of extreme conditions, with current temperatures above 50 degrees in summer and very low annual rainfall. The land and water were the main resources, providing abundant grass and a thriving agriculture. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia were offered a variety of animals for food.

The steppes were inhabited by gazelles, deer and wild asses. In the mountains there were deer, wild boars, tigers, lions, bears and wild goats. Towards 6500 BC, sheep, goats, pigs and cows are in the diet of the people of Mesopotamia. It was not until the end of the third millennium BC.

When the horse and camel are domesticated. The emergence of agriculture led to major changes. From 8500 BC, the sedentary stretches across the Middle East. Places like Jericho, Shanidar, Zawi Chemi, Karim Shefer, Cayn, Jarmo and others have great advances in farming techniques and materials. In the Anatolian upland, Hacilar, Hasan Can and Suberde show a high degree of civilization,.

But the largest settlement and best preserved is atal huyuk. With an area of 12 ha, throughout all the settlement there may be about 1000 homes, in which must have lived a population of more than 5000 people. Walls are made of mud and almost stuck to each other, the entrance to the houses are made from the roof, which was reached by a ladder.

The decoration of houses, with paintings, skulls and bull’s horns, among other elements, as well as structures called sanctuaries, have allowed the suggestion that its population reached a high level of ritualization. By the sixth millennium, advanced places like Samarra or Hassunna, have a pottery decorated with geometric motifs.

More importantly than these cultures was the one of tell halaf, between 5600 and 4500 BC. Its people developed new technical skills and created one of the most beautiful ceramics in the entire history of this region. A short time later, in southern Mesopotamia a flourishing settlement occurs; the people, maybe coming from east or southern Iran attracted.